San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny was selected Thursday night in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, who used the 27th overall pick to select the nation’s rushing leader.

It was a surprise to many draft observers — Penny had been projected as a second-round pick — but, apparently, not to the running back himself.

“He left yesterday to be at home for the draft,” said SDSU head coach Rocky Long, who spoke to the senior before Penny went home to Norwalk to be with family and friends. “When he left, we all speculated.”

Long thought Penny was going to be taken by the Denver Broncos. SDSU offensive coordinator and running backs coach Jeff Horton thought it would be the Carolina Panthers.

And Penny himself?

“I asked him, ‘Who would you like to go to?’ ” Long said. “Rashaad said he wanted to go to the Seahawks. How about that one? So he had a feeling.”

Penny, who collected a school-record 2,248 yards during the 2017 season, is the ninth first-round pick in SDSU history and the first in 20 years — when tackle Kyle Turley was selected seventh overall by the New Orleans Saints. Penny joins Marshall Faulk, drafted second overall in 1994 by the Indianapolis Colts, as the only SDSU running backs ever taken in the first round.

Penny said he had a lot of contact with Seattle during the evaluation process the past few months, including speaking to Seahawks running backs coach Chad Morton a few days ago. He is the third running back in franchise history drafted in the first round by Seattle, joining Curt Warner and Shaun Alexander.

“I come from a realistic program and a realistic head coach,” Penny said during a conference call with reporters. “You start looking at all the mock drafts and projections. But then as the process starts going on and on, I started realizing that the mocks and projections don’t mean anything.

“Now this opportunity is real. … I’m so blessed right now.”

Asked what he does best, Penny said: “I’m a very elusive runner. I can catch the ball out of the back. I can do whatever it takes to win a game. That’s for sure. That’s the mindset I’m bringing to Seattle. I want to bring that team back to where it was a few years ago, make a huge playoff run and eventually go to the Super Bowl. That’s the goal. … I thank everybody in that organization for trusting in me. I know it’s going to be a great fit.”

Seattle had one rushing touchdown from a running back last season, 22 fewer than Penny rushed for with the Aztecs.

“That definitely means that they need somebody to come in there willing to help,” said Penny, who is expected to receive a $5.9 million signing bonus. “I’m the right guy for that. I’m excited. I know they need help and, like I said, I’m the guy for it. I’m willing to do my job and do whatever it takes to help win.”

“I don’t mind telling you, this pick fired me up,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll told Seattle reporters. ““He’s such an exciting player. He’s so versatile and so dynamic. We know that every time he gets his hands on the football he could score a touchdown. That’s in the running game and the passing game. He’s very gifted.”

Blocking is one area Penny will be working to improve.

“I know I have to protect that million-dollar man back there, (quarterback) Russell Wilson,” Penny said. “I’m excited to join him and be on his side and everybody else in that Seahawks organization.”

Penny was listed among the top six running backs in the draft by many observers, but most had him listed as Day 2 pick.

“People were concerned about the level of competition but he absolutely ripped up the whole week down there,” Seahawks General Manager John Schneider said of the Senior Bowl. “He acted like it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Instead, the Seahawks made him the second running back selected. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley was the first, going second overall to the New York Giants. Four picks after Penny was taken, the New England Patriots chose Georgia running back Sony Michel.

Penny is the first running back from a non-Power Five school to be selected this high since 2010. He is the third SDSU running back in six years selected in the draft, joining Ronnie Hillman (Denver, third round, 2012) and D.J. Pumphrey (Philadelphia Eagles, fourth round, 2017).

“It’s really exciting,” Long said. “We believed he was a first-round draft choice, but all the experts were saying that he was a second-round draft choice. They don’t know the kids as well as we do, but they know the system better than we do. You kind of maybe believe what they’re saying, but we thought he had a decent chance to go in the first round.

“He think he deserves it, and we thought he was all along. It’s good for the coaches, the players in our program now and maybe for the future. But everybody’s happy for him. Everybody understands the kind of player he was (for SDSU), but he also was a great teammate, a great guy as far as the media and all that kind of stuff.”